There exists many situations in which it would be advantageous to install a flexible tire protective cover over a static tire and to provide for quick removal and convenient stacking storage and transport of the tire protective covers when not in use. One such example is in the case of recreational vehicles, trailers or the like where the recreational vehicle or trailer may be parked in a static position for extended periods of time in sunny climates where ozone aid the ultraviolet ("UV") radiation of the sunlight will deteriorate the rubber compound of the exposed surfaces of the tire, and in particular, the exposed relatively thin sidewalls of the exposed tire.
It is thus advantageous to both protect exposed surfaces of a tire from environmental hazards including ozone ultraviolet radiation and airborne contaminants such as corrosive fluids or paint and to protect from dogs urinating on alloy wheels and tires, in that urine is corrosive. It is also convenient to stack such tire protective covers for storage and transport when not in use.
UV damage is a recognized problem for rubber compound tires. Typically, this is the reason that rubber compound tires are black and incorporate a UV stabilizer called an absorber. Absorbers operate by capturing and absorbing harmful UV radiation energy instead of having that energy absorbed by the tire polymer molecules. The energy absorbed by the absorbers is converted into heat so as to dissipate harmlessly from the tire. Conventionally, tire manufacturers use a carbon black absorber Thus, rubber compound tires are black. Absorbers such as carbon black absorbers are depleted over tine so that the protection they afford tires from UV damage gradually diminishes. Thus, as may be commonly observed, rubber compound tires having carbon black absorbers eventually turn grey over time and exposure to UV radiation.
Conventional rubber compound tires are also protected against ozone damage. Typically, tire manufacturers use waxes to protect against ozone. In operation, conventional rubber compound tires incorporating such waxes flex during normal usage and such flexing causes the waxes to migrate to die surface of the tire where the waxes form a physical barrier between the air, the ozone carrier medium, and the tire polymer. The process of migrating the waxes to the surface of the tire is called blooming. When tires are not in use, so that they are not flexed, for example, when a vehicle is parked, blooming does not occur and thus the ozone will eventually penetrate the protective wax on the surface of the tire sand degrade the tire polymers. The combination of degradation by the effect of ozone and UV radiation over extended periods of time causes the tire to dry and eventually crack.
Petrochemicals and silicone oils can remove the protective waxes and increase the rate of degradation. Common automotive "protectants" and "tire dressings" are typically devoid of UV stabilizers of any type and contain petrochemicals and/or silicone oils which dissolve away the protective waxes and can actually aggress the sidewall deterioration. In the event of warranty sidewall failure, one of the first things tire manufacturers look for is evidence of the use of these types of products. When found, this is often cause for not warranting the sidewall failure.
The tread surface of tires are conventionally manufactured with more plys than the sidewall of tires. The tread of a tire also has a steel belt molded into the circumference of it to afford more protection for the tread. In most cases the tread of a tire is predominantly situated under a body, fender, wheel well, etc. and so is not as exposed and therefore does not deteriorate as rapidly as the sidewall. The sidewall, being a weaker construction, requires a protective covering to shield it from the suns ultraviolet rays.
In the prior art, applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,990 which teaches a retractable blind, mountable in a wheel well for retractably covering a tire to shield the tire from ultraviolet rays. This device suffers from the drawback of being complex and, thus, prone to malfunction due to incursion of moisture and dirt such as would normally be found within a wheel well.